Bleep

Travis Stewart hits up the Ninja Tune roster as Machinedrum, turning in a brand new full-length. A concept album that revolves around a dream city, Travis invites us to explore its many districts. Opening with the breathtaking 'Gunshotta', Machinedrum showcases that jungle-juke sounds he’s been exploring for a while now with heavy-hitting liquid bass delivered with a treacle-thick gloss. The production is sharp: beats snap and whipcrack with his trademark insistence, but filtered through an aesthetic that is decidedly more widescreen.

'Don't 1 2 Lose U' is like a lost rave dream built from shimmering towers of sound, 'Rise 'N' Fall' carries that same faraway quality and takes things just as sky-high. At the other end of the spectrum, 'Center Your Love' is light and breezy as summer time, prickling percussion deployed with a romantic swoon. Final track 'Baby It's U' is bassline slowed down and made into a yearning lullaby. It's touching and more emotional than Stewart has ever been before. 'Vapor City' is undoubtedly stunning. An album rich in more textures and ideas than anything he has done before.